Publications

The Glossary

BSS Monograph No. 13

This is a 90 page document which lists almost all of the terms which are directly related to dials and dialling. Additionally, excursions into the fields of astronomy, horology, optics and solar sciences have been made where it seems useful. There is a set of thumbnail biographies of the major players in the development of dialling, detailed equations for many dial types, and a set of appendices providing comments on the history of dialling and various solar and other data.

Edited by John Davis, 90 pages

There are still a limited number of printed copies of the Glossary available to buy for £14.00 + p&p - please email John Davis for details.

The Double Horizontal Dial

BSS Monograph No. 5

The double horizontal dial combines two forms of sundial, a common horizontal dial and one having a vertical gnomon which indicates the position of the sun on a stereographic projection of the celestial sphere. This is an exhaustive and meticulously researched treatise on the subject which is the definitive reference on double horizontal dials, their history and their makers.

By John Davis and Michael Lowne, 240 pages

This publication is only available as a printed document. It costs £17.50 + p&p - please email John Davis for details.

Contents and Foreword

Altitude Dials

BSS Monograph No. 4

The history of portable sundials starts probably around 1500 BC in Egypt with the construction of an altitude dial.

For the following centuries, measuring the height of the Sun in the sky remained the favourite method for determining time in the field of portable sundials. Here 38 types of altitude dial are listed and described. For each of them a model was made and documented with a photograph. Fundamental considerations on the accuracy of each type and helpful advice on usage from the examination of each model are added.

Mike Cowham, 63 pages

Mass Dials on Yorkshire Churches & Addendum

BSS Monograph No. 3, Addendum No. 9

Apart from a very few transitional dials dating just a little later, all mass dials were cut before 1550 AD so it may come as a surprise to find that so many have survived.

In this publication Alan Cook gives details of his research into the mass dials of all of the churches in Yorkshire.

By Alan Cook, 47 pages

There is also an addendum, which updates the coverage of the Yorkshire churches and takes account of boundary changes in 1974.

Medieval Azimuthal Sundials

BSS Monograph No. 10

This work begins with Greek and Roman antiquity and shows the line which probably has led to the azimuth sundial. The suddenness of its appearance suggests an introduction from outside, because the Arabic Middle Ages were a high time for gnomonics, in contrast to Latin Europe of the time. But it seems that the azimuthal sundial is a pure invention of the Latin West and was further developed there.

The author lists medieval manuscripts with instructions for making azimuthal sundials.

By Mario Arnaldi, 58 pages

Sundials in Museums of the British Isles

BSS Monograph No. 7

A large number of museums in this country (and others around the world) have at least one sundial in their collections. This particular survey covers the British Isles and lists all of the museums traced by its authors with details, where known, of dials in their collections. The survey is basically laid out alphabetically in county order, followed by the towns, and their museums, where these dials may be found.

By Ian Butson, Jill Wilson & Tony Wood, 59 pages